Amidst the carnage of a failed marriage, as your days become consumed with prying the broken shards of glass from the wounds of a shattered life, it is hard to conceive that anyone will ever be worth the risk of going through all of this again. But a life without love is incomplete -- Love is always worth it.

Reading non-fiction and personal memoirs was also an important part of the healing process for me. Reading allowed me to set aside my own emotions and be absorbed in someone else's life. It provided an escape and a road map to writing my son's story.

Here's something no one wants to hear: You aren't special because you made it through a bad break-up. Calling someone who had a bad break-up a "survivor" is a kind of First-World-Problems hyperbole. It belittles those who actually persevere and overcome true, life-threatening obstacles.

Todd Akin's ridiculous declaration on the serious crime of rape has created a justifiable uproar. Rape victims everywhere have experienced similar insensitive, nonsensical remarks. Count on it. But no one can top the comments of the man who sexually assaulted me for a period of 11 years.